Lands of the Slave and the Free eBook

[Footnote BI: Having alluded in the text to the
systems of Morse, Bain, and House, I must apologize
for omitting to add, that the system of Cook and Wheatstone
consists simply of a deflecting needle—­or
needles—­which being acted upon by the currents,
are, according to the manipulations of the operator,
made to indicate the required letters by a certain
number of ticks to the right or left.]

CHAPTER XXIV.

America’s Press and England’s Censor.

In treating of a free country, the Press must ever
be considered as occupying too important an influence
to be passed over in silence. I therefore propose
dedicating a few pages to the subject. The following
Table, arranged from information given in the Census
Report of 1850, is the latest account within my reach:—­

Total number of newspapers and periodicals, 2526;
and copies printed annually, 426,409,978.

The minute accuracy of the number of copies issued
annually is a piece of startling information:
the Republic is most famous for statistics, but how,
without any stamp to test the accuracy of the issues,
they have ascertained the units while dealing with
hundreds of millions is a statistical prodigy that
throws the calculating genius of a Babbage and the
miraculous powers of Herr Doebler and Anderson into
the shade. I can therefore no more pretend to
explain the method they employ for statistics, than
I can the system adopted by Herr Doebler to mend plates
by firing pistols at them. The exact quantity
of reliance that can be placed upon them, I must leave
to my reader’s judgment.